Art in the Dark: Nite Art Returns

Nite Art returns on Thursday for it’s fourth year, giving Melburnians access to a scenic, night-time exploration of the city’s galleries and museums.

The work of more than 60 local and international artists will be on show across 25 spaces, including ACMI, the Arts Centre, Melbourne Universtiy’s Parkville campus, and numerous galleries and bars in the CBD.

Nite Art founder Deborah Stahle says this year’s program aims to promote both emerging and established artists.

“There’s very much a sense of capturing those artists, and certainly interesting spaces that may be flying under the radar. We want to make sure we can capture and spotlight the fantastic work they’re doing.” Stahle says. “We’re asking people to make a date with art, and connect with art and artists in our city in a meaningful way.”

Outside Flinders Lane Gallery, Holding Pattern will fill the street with light and human voices. It’s a work by Hannah Quinlivan in collaboration with Louise Keast and Alexandra Hobba, using LED lights with a performance of classical vocals.

Alpha 60 at Chapter House will show a specially curated exhibition called Frames of Seeing, featuring pieces by Leela Schäuble, Hermione Merry and Henriette Kassay-Schuster. Schäuble’s work Looking Out is a site-specific video installation that uses footage from the Arctic, where Schäuble did an artist residency.

Step inside the old-school elevator in the Nicholas Building and head to Blindside ARI, where an installation by Mark Booth and Michael Graeve will splash the walls, floor and ceiling with coloured light, paint and fabrics.

North of the city, at the Melbourne University Old Quad, American artist Jordan Eagle’s Blood Equality – Illuminations is a large-scale projection of real, “infected” human blood embedded in resin. The piece is a comment on the fact that in the US and other countries same-sex attracted men aren’t allowed to donate blood.